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At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

USGS1987

Cumulative impacts of oil fields on northern Alaskan landscapes

Proposed further developments on Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain raise questions about cumulative effects on arctic tundra ecosystems of development of multiple large oil fields. Maps of historical changes to the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field show indirect impacts can lag behind planned developments by many years and the total area eventually disturbed can greatly exceed the planned area of construction. For example, in the wettest parts of the oil field (flat thaw-lake plains), flooding and thermokarst covered more than twice the area directly affected by roads and other construction activities. Protecting critical wildlife habitat is the central issue for cumulative impact analysis in northern Alaska. Comprehensive landscape planning with the use of geographic information system technology and detailed geobotanical maps can help identify and protect areas of high wildlife use.

Alaska↗

USGS2001

Science Plan, U.S. Geological Survey Florida District

This Science Plan has been prepared by the Florida District of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as a tool to provide direction for the scientific work to be accomplished in the District during the next 5-10 years. A Science Plan can serve as a guide to determine the optimum use of the limited financial resources of the USGS in Florida to address water resource issues. The Florida District has four primary operational centers geographically distributed across the State, in Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami, with a laboratory in Ocala and field offices in Jacksonville and Fort Myers. Other USGS discipline offices in Florida are located in Gainesville (biology), St. Petersburg (geology), and Miami (restoration ecology) (fig.1). Although some differences exist in programs among the four water-resource offices because of differing physiographic settings and information needs, many common elements are present and these common elements are the focus of this District Science Plan. Science Plan development was based on other planning documents including individual Science Plans prepared by personnel in each of the four primary Florida water resource offices, and strategic planning documents of the Southeastern Region, Water Resources Discipline (WRD), and the USGS. A broad cross-section of District staff, representing all primary offices, a number of different scientific disciplines, and different programs of the District (data collection, investigations, and research) collaborated on the development of this Science Plan. As part of the development process, input was solicited from staff in every office and considered for inclusion in the plan. The Science Plan will be evaluated on an ongoing basis to ensure its continued relevancy to recognized water resources needs in Florida, and to guide future program development and collaboration with our existing and potential partners and customers, both within and outside the USGS.

Florida↗

USGS2007

Pesticides in U.S. streams and groundwater

A 10-year study by the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS’s) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program provides a national-scale view of pesticide occurrence in streams and groundwater. The 1992-2001 study builds upon a preliminary analysis from NAWQA’s first phase of studies during 1992-1996 (1, 2). Pesticide data available from various studies prior to 1992 did not allow national assessment because of limited and variable geographic coverage (usually focusing on individual states or regions), sparse and inconsistent inclusion of pesticides in use, and variable sampling designs (3-5). The expanded geographic coverage and improved data following 10 years of study (Figure 1) confirm and reinforce previously reported findings and enable more detailed analyses of each topic. This article summarizes selected findings from a comprehensive report (6), with a focus on the nature of pesticide occurrence and potential significance to human health and stream ecosystems. Information on study design and methods as well as additional analysis of geographic patterns and trends in relation to use and management practices are available in the full report (6).

Environmental Science & Technology↗

USGS2022

The Volcano Hazards Program — Strategic science plan for 2022–2026

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program (VHP) Strategic Science Plan, developed through discussion with scientists-in-charge of the USGS volcano observatories and the director of the USGS Volcano Science Center, specifies six major strategic goals to be pursued over the next 5 years. The purpose of these goals is to help fulfill the USGS VHP mission to enhance public safety and to minimize social and economic disruption caused by volcanic eruptions in the United States and its territories, through delivery of effective forecasts, warnings, and information on volcano hazards based on scientific understanding of volcanic processes. These six major strategic goals are to (1) continue—and when possible, accelerate—implementation of the National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS); (2) improve community preparedness for volcanic hazards by updating and standardizing essential components of volcano hazard assessments and providing training to land managers, emergency responders, and State and local communities; (3) develop the next generation of volcano hazard assessments using geographic information systems and other digital tools; (4) make observations with new instrumentation and take advantage of advances in real-time gas sensors; (5) rebuild the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and its monitoring capabilities; and (6) form new partnerships and strengthen existing partnerships with other government agencies and with academia and industry, to advance volcano monitoring, increase understanding of volcanic processes, and disseminate USGS information. In its effort to advance volcano science and monitoring techniques, the VHP has identified six scientific targets to pursue over the next 5 years, including: (1) increased understanding of volcano seismicity; (2) improved probabilistic forecasting; (3) deepened grasp of volcano eruption histories and geochronology; (4) newly developed and refined physical models of magmatic systems, leading to better situational awareness and accuracy of eruption forecasts; (5) improved warnings and forecasts of volcanic ash and gas clouds and characterization of volcanic smog sources; and (6) refined lava-flow modeling and forecasting of lava-flow paths.

Circular↗

USGS2009

Oil and gas development in southwestern Wyoming— Energy data and services for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)

The purpose of this report is to explore current oil and gas energy development in the area encompassing the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative. The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative is a long-term science-based effort to ensure southwestern Wyoming's wildlife and habitat remain viable in areas facing development pressure. Wyoming encompasses some of the highest quality wildlife habitats in the Intermountain West. At the same time, this region is an important source of natural gas. Using Geographic Information System technology, energy data pertinent to the conservation decision-making process have been assembled to show historical oil and gas exploration and production in southwestern Wyoming. In addition to historical data, estimates of undiscovered oil and gas are included from the 2002 U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas in the Southwestern Wyoming Province. This report is meant to facilitate the integration of existing data with new knowledge and technologies to analyze energy resources development and to assist in habitat conservation planning. The well and assessment data can be accessed and shared among many different clients including, but not limited to, an online web-service for scientists and resource managers engaged in the Initiative.

Wyoming↗

USGS2016

Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative strategic plan 2015 - 2025

The Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NWB LCC) is a voluntary, diverse, self-directed management-science partnership, informing and promoting integrated science, sustainable natural and cultural resource management, and conservation to address impacts of climate change and other stressors within and across ecosystems. The NWB LCC area includes parts of Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and British Columbia. Our partnership reflects both the broad geographic scope and an extensive array of active and engaged participants including resource management organizations, government representatives, policy makers, Tribes and First Nations, industry leaders, researchers, non-governmental organizations, and research/education institutions. Bringing together diverse partners will help assure the northwest boreal is a functioning, sustainable landscape. We live in an era of profound conservation challenges, including the loss and fragmentation of habitats, genetic isolation, invasive species, and unnatural wildfire. The effects of rapidly changing climate are already evident on the landscape. In these circumstances, it is imperative that natural resource management agencies, science providers, Tribes, First Nations, conservation organizations, and other stakeholders work together to understand the drivers and impacts of landscape change and to determine how best to address those challenges. Further, it is essential that the public and communities receive clear communication about the vision and activities of the NWB LCC. Open public access to NWB LCC activities and products will promote acceptance and support of the science that guides potential changes in management action and conservation strategy. This strategic plan provides a great opportunity for the NWB LCC to share our approach and intentions to the LCC members, collaborators, communities, and the public at large.

Report↗

USGS2004

The Enterprise Web

The Enterprise Web is a bureau wide approach to managing U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) information on the Web. Under the direction of the USGS Geographic Information Office, the Enterprise Web operates the Bureau's Web servers and their associated sites. Through a network of people and resources, the Enterprise Web or "E-Web" works with programs and partners to effectively use the USGS Web presence to advance and deliver natural science information. It provides the corporate infrastructure, best practices, and tools to focus the Bureau's Web presence on customer and business needs and to ensure that USGS Web sites are reliable, secure, and in compliance with all applicable laws, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements, and Department of the Interior (DOI) policy.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2010

Magnitude and extent of flooding at selected river reaches in western Washington, January 2009

A narrow plume of warm, moist tropical air produced prolonged precipitation and melted snow in low-to-mid elevations throughout western Washington in January 2009. As a result, peak-of-record discharges occurred at many long-term streamflow-gaging stations in the region. A disaster was declared by the President for eight counties in Washington State and by May 2009, aid payments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had exceeded $17 million. In an effort to document the flood and to obtain flood information that could be compared with simulated flood extents that are commonly prepared in conjunction with flood insurance studies by FEMA, eight stream reaches totaling 32.6 miles were selected by FEMA for inundation mapping. The U.S. Geological Survey?s Washington Water Science Center used a survey-grade global positioning system (GPS) the following summer to survey high-water marks (HWMs) left by the January 2009 flood at these reaches. A Google Maps (copyright) application was developed to display all HWM data on an interactive mapping tool on the project?s web site soon after the data were collected. Water-surface profiles and maps that display the area and depth of inundation were produced through a geographic information system (GIS) analysis that combined surveyed HWM elevations with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)-derived digital elevation models of the study reaches and surrounding terrain. In several of the reaches, floods were well confined in their flood plains and were relatively straightforward to map. More common, however, were reaches with more complicated hydraulic geometries where widespread flooding resulted in flows that separated from the main channel. These proved to be more difficult to map, required subjective hydrologic judgment, and relied on supplementary information, such as aerial photographs and descriptions of the flooding from local landowners and government officials to obtain the best estimates of the extent of flooding.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2018

Comparison of genetic and visual identification of cisco and lake whitefish larvae from Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario

Cisco Coregonus artedi are an important component of native food webs in the Great Lakes, and their restoration is instrumental to the recovery of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush and Atlantic salmon Salmo salar . Difficulties with visual identification of larvae can confound early life history surveys, as cisco are often difficult to distinguish from lake whitefish C. clupeaformis . We compared traditional visual species identification methods to genetic identifications based on barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase I gene for 726 coregonine larvae caught in Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario. We found little agreement between the visual characteristics of cisco identified by genetic barcoding and the most widely used dichotomous key, and the considerable overlap in ranges of traditionally utilized metrics suggest that visual identification of coregonine larvae from Chaumont Bay is impractical. Coregonines are highly variable and plastic species, and often display wide variations in morphometric characteristics across their broad range. This study highlights the importance of developing accurate, geographically appropriate larval identification methods in order to best inform cisco restoration and management efforts.

New York↗

USGS2014

Geospatial considerations for a multiorganizational, landscape-scale program

Geospatial data play an increasingly important role in natural resources management, conservation, and science-based projects. The management and effective use of spatial data becomes significantly more complex when the efforts involve a myriad of landscape-scale projects combined with a multiorganizational collaboration. There is sparse literature to guide users on this daunting subject; therefore, we present a framework of considerations for working with geospatial data that will provide direction to data stewards, scientists, collaborators, and managers for developing geospatial management plans. The concepts we present apply to a variety of geospatial programs or projects, which we describe as a “scalable framework” of processes for integrating geospatial efforts with management, science, and conservation initiatives. Our framework includes five tenets of geospatial data management: (1) the importance of investing in data management and standardization, (2) the scalability of content/efforts addressed in geospatial management plans, (3) the lifecycle of a geospatial effort, (4) a framework for the integration of geographic information systems (GIS) in a landscape-scale conservation or management program, and (5) the major geospatial considerations prior to data acquisition. We conclude with a discussion of future considerations and challenges.

Journal of Map & Geography Libraries↗

USGS2012

Genesis of an oak-fire science consortium

With respect to fire management and practices, one of the most overlooked regions lies in the middle of the country. In this region there is a critical need for both recognition of fire’s importance and sharing of fire information and expertise. Recently we proposed and were awarded funding by the Joint Fire Science Program to initiate the planning phase for a regional fire consortium. The purpose of the consortium will be to promote the dissemination of fire information across the interior United States and to identify fire information needs of oak-dominated communities such as woodlands, forests, savannas, and barrens. Geographically, the consortium region will cover: 1) the Interior Lowland Plateau Ecoregion in Illinois, Indiana, central Kentucky and Tennessee; 2) the Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Ozarks; 3) the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma; and 4) the Cross Timbers Region in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. This region coincides with the southwestern half of the Central Hardwoods Forest Region. The tasks of this consortium will be to disseminate fire information, connect fire professionals, and efficiently address fire issues within our region. If supported, the success and the future direction of the consortium will be driven by end-users, their input, and involvement.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2017

Salish Kootenai College and U.S. Geological Survey partnership—Enhancing student opportunities and professional development

Salish Kootenai College (SKC), in the Flathead Reservation in the northwestern corner of Montana, is the largest of the seven Tribal colleges in the State. In 2011, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Tribal Liaison Monique Fordham from the Office of Tribal Relations/Office of Science Quality and Integrity began discussions with SKC faculty to examine ways the USGS could assist with classes taught as part of the new hydrology program at the college. With funding provided by the USGS Office of Tribal Relations, Roy Sando from the Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center began collaborating with SKC. From 2012 to 2017, Sando and others have developed and taught eight educational workshops at SKC. Topics of the workshops have included classifying land cover using remote sensing, characterizing stream channel migration, estimating actual evapotranspiration, modeling groundwater contamination plumes, and building custom geographic information system tools. By contributing to the educational training of SKC students and establishing this high level of collaboration with a Tribal college, the USGS is demonstrating its commitment to helping build the next generation of Tribal scientists.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2007

Surficial sediment character of the New York-New Jersey offshore continental shelf region: A GIS compilation

Broad continental shelf regions such as the New York Bight are the product of a complex geologic history and dynamic oceanographic processes, dominated by the Holocene marine transgression (>100 m sea-level rise) following the end of the last Pleistocene ice advance ~ 20,000 years ago. The area of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (U.S. EEZ) territory, extending 200 nautical miles seaward from the coast, is larger than the continental U.S. and contains submerged landforms that provide a variety of natural functions and societal benefits, such as: critical habitats for fisheries, ship navigation and homeland security, and engineering activities (i.e. oil and gas platforms, pipeline and cable routes, potential wind-energy-generation sites). Some parts of the continental margins, particularly inner-continental shelf regions, also contain unconsolidated hard-mineral deposits such as sand and gravel that are regarded as potential aggregate resources to meet or augment needs not met by onshore deposits (Williams, 1992). The present distribution of surficial sediment off the northeastern United States is shaped from the deposits left by the last glaciation and reflects the cumulative effects of sediment erosion, transport, sorting, and deposition by storm and tidal processes during the Holocene rise in sea level. As a result, the sediments on the sea floor represent both an historical record of former conditions and a guide to possible future sedimentary environments. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) through the Coastal and Marine Geology Program, in cooperation with the University of Colorado and other partners, has compiled extant sediment character and textural data as well as other geologic information on the sea floor from all regions around the U.S. into the usSEABED data system (Reid and others, 2005; Buczkowski and others, 2006; Reid and others, 2006). The usSEABED system, which contains information on sediment grain size and lithology for more than 340,500 stations within the U.S. EEZ. has been developed and populated with data as part of the USGS Marine Aggregate Resources and Processes and the National Benthic Habitats projects in order to provide the base-line data needed to update the current maps of offshore surficial geologic character and sediment distribution. The maps are also used to characterize benthic sea floor environments important for marine ecosystems. U.S. Geological Survey, Data Series 118 (Reid and others, 2005), of the usSEABED data release series, represents the combined efforts of the USGS and several other government agencies to provide a unified resource for accessing and preserving records of U.S. east coast sea floor geologic information and sediment texture data. For this present report, we have chosen to focus on the New York-New Jersey region, an area that has been intensely studied by the USGS for many years to address many complex issues. This report illustrates the uses of the usSEABED database for GIS applications, while offering additional insight into the resources and data available from the USGS and its collaborative institutions. This report is based on data contained in U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 118 (Reid and others, 2005) and shows an assortment of example GIS products that are possible using usSEABED. All data are intended to be GIS-ready and should not require any additional cleanup, formatting, or renaming of fields in order to use the data in a Geographic Information System. This project employs the Environmental Systems Research Institute's (ESRI) ArcView™ software. Many of these maps were made as part of the ongoing USGS study to assess marine aggregate resources offshore New York and New Jersey, but these maps can serve many other purposes. The marine science community, educators, students and others are encouraged to use these data to generate GIS products for their own purposes. The objectives of the Marine Aggregate Resources and Processes project are to produce a series of new geologic maps and reports of the sea floor that will provide scientific insights into the character and geologic development of U.S. continental margins and to use these maps and information to assess the potential availability of offshore sand and gravel resources. The mapping and aggregate resource assessments are being conducted on a national scale using the usSEABED data base as described in Williams and others (2003). Potential uses for these data include: (1) defining the geological variability of the sea floor in relation to benthic habitat diversity; (2) improving our understanding of the processes that control the distribution and transport of bottom sediments and benthic habitats; (3) locating aggregate resources for beach nourishment and industrial applications; and (4) providing a detailed geospatial framework for future marine science research, monitoring, and management activities. The initial assessments are in progress for the New York Bight and Louisiana offshore areas.

New Jersey, New York↗

USGS2013

New service interface for River Forecasting Center derived quantitative precipitation estimates

For more than a decade, the National Weather Service (NWS) River Forecast Centers (RFCs) have been estimating spatially distributed rainfall by applying quality-control procedures to radar-indicated rainfall estimates in the eastern United States and other best practices in the western United States to producea national Quantitative Precipitation Estimate (QPE) (National Weather Service, 2013). The availability of archives of QPE information for analytical purposes has been limited to manual requests for access to raw binary file formats that are difficult for scientists who are not in the climatic sciences to work with. The NWS provided the QPE archives to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the contents of the real-time feed from the RFCs are being saved by the USGS for incorporation into the archives. The USGS has applied time-series aggregation and added latitude-longitude coordinate variables to publish the RFC QPE data. Web services provide users with direct (index-based) data access, rendered visualizations of the data, and resampled raster representations of the source data in common geographic information formats.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2022

Reducing uncertainty in climate change responses of inland fishes: A decision-path approach

Climate change will continue to be an important consideration for conservation practitioners. However, uncertainty in identifying appropriate management strategies, particularly for understudied species and regions, constrains the implementation of science-based solutions and adaptation strategies. Here, we share a decision-path approach to reduce uncertainty in climate change responses of inland fishes to inform conservation and adaptation planning. With the Fish and Climate Change database (FiCli), a comprehensive, online, public database of peer-reviewed literature on documented and projected climate impacts to inland fishes, users can identify relevant studies and associated management recommendations via geographic regions, response types (i.e., fish assemblage dynamics, demographic, distributional, evolutionary, phenological), fish taxa, and traits (e.g., thermal guilds, feeding type, parental care, habitat type) and use a suite of summary tools to make more informed decisions. For both data-rich and data-poor scenarios, we demonstrate that this approach can reduce uncertainty in understanding climate change responses. Using thermal sensitivity as an example, we also establish the utility of FiCli database to address other user-defined, management-relevant questions via supplementary analyses. This decision-path approach can be applied to rapid assessments, management decisions, and policy development and may serve as a model for other conservation decision-making processes.

Conservation Science and Practice↗

USGS2014

Archive of digital chirp subbottom profile data collected during USGS cruise 12BIM03 offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, July 2012

From July 23 - 31, 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted geophysical surveys to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island framework and long-term sediment transport along the oil spill mitigation sand berm constructed at the north end and just offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, La. (figure 1). This effort is part of a broader USGS study, which seeks to better understand barrier island evolution over medium time scales (months to years). This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital chirp subbottom data, trackline maps, navigation files, Geographic Information System (GIS) files, Field Activity Collection System (FACS) logs, and formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata. Gained (showing a relative increase in signal amplitude) digital images of the seismic profiles are also provided. Refer to the Abbreviations page for expansions of acronyms and abbreviations used in this report. The USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) assigns a unique identifier to each cruise or field activity. For example, 12BIM03 tells us the data were collected in 2012 during the third field activity for that project in that calendar year and BIM is a generic code, which represents efforts related to Barrier Island Mapping. Refer to http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/infobank/programs/html/definition/activity.html for a detailed description of the method used to assign the field activity ID. All chirp systems use a signal of continuously varying frequency; the EdgeTech SB-424 system used during this survey produces high-resolution, shallow-penetration (typically less than 50 milliseconds (ms)) profile images of sub-seafloor stratigraphy. The towfish contains a transducer that transmits and receives acoustic energy and is typically towed 1 - 2 m below the sea surface. As transmitted acoustic energy intersects density boundaries, such as the seafloor or sub-surface sediment layers, energy is reflected back toward the transducer, received, and recorded by a PC-based seismic acquisition system. This process is repeated at regular time intervals (for example, 0.125 seconds (s)) and returned energy is recorded for a specific duration (for example, 50 ms). In this way, a two-dimensional (2-D) vertical image of the shallow geologic structure beneath the ship track is produced. Figure 2 displays the acquisition geometry. Refer to table 1 for a summary of acquisition parameters and table 2 for trackline statistics. The archived trace data are in standard Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) SEG Y rev. 0 format (Barry and others, 1975); the first 3,200 bytes of the card image header are in ASCII format instead of EBCDIC format. The SEG Y files may be downloaded and processed with commercial or public domain software such as Seismic Unix (SU) (Cohen and Stockwell, 2010). See the How To Download SEG Y Data page for download instructions. The web version of this archive does not contain the SEG Y trace files. These files are very large and would require extremely long download times. To obtain the complete DVD archive, contact USGS Information Services at 1-888-ASK-USGS or infoservices@usgs.gov. The printable profiles provided here are GIF images that were processed and gained using SU software and can be viewed from the Profiles page or from links located on the trackline maps; refer to the Software page for links to example SU processing scripts. The SEG Y files are available on the DVD version of this report or on the Web, downloadable via the USGS Coastal and Marine Geoscience Data System (http://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov). The data are also available for viewing using GeoMapApp (http://www.geomapapp.org) and Virtual Ocean (http://www.virtualocean.org) multi-platform open source software. Detailed information about the navigation system used can be found in table 1 and the Field Activity Collection System (FACS) logs. To view the trackline maps and navigation files, and for more information about these items, see the Navigation page.

Louisiana↗

USGS2003

The National Map: from geography to mapping and back again

When the means of production for national base mapping were capital intensive, required large production facilities, and had ill-defined markets, Federal Government mapping agencies were the primary providers of the spatial data needed for economic development, environmental management, and national defense. With desktop geographic information systems now ubiquitous, source data available as a commodity from private industry, and the realization that many complex problems faced by society need far more and different kinds of spatial data for their solutions, national mapping organizations must realign their business strategies to meet growing demand and anticipate the needs of a rapidly changing geographic information environment. The National Map of the United States builds on a sound historic foundation of describing and monitoring the land surface and adds a focused effort to produce improved understanding, modeling, and prediction of land-surface change. These added dimensions bring to bear a broader spectrum of geographic science to address extant and emerging issues. Within the overarching construct of The National Map, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is making a transition from data collector to guarantor of national data completeness; from producing paper maps to supporting an online, seamless, integrated database; and from simply describing the Nation’s landscape to linking these descriptions with increased scientific understanding. Implementing the full spectrum of geographic science addresses a myriad of public policy issues, including land and natural resource management, recreation, urban growth, human health, and emergency planning, response, and recovery. Neither these issues nor the science and technologies needed to deal with them are static. A robust research agenda is needed to understand these changes and realize The National Map vision. Initial successes have been achieved. These accomplishments demonstrate the utility of The National Map to the Nation and give confidence in evolving its future applications.

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing↗

USGS2021

Principles for collaborative risk communication: Reducing landslide losses in Puerto Rico

Landslides are frequent and damaging natural hazards that threaten the people and the natural and built environments of Puerto Rico. In 2017, more than 70,000 landslides were triggered across the island by heavy rainfall from Hurricane María, prompting requests by local professionals for landslide education and outreach materials. This article describes a novel collaborative risk communication framework that was developed to meet those requests and shaped the creation of a Spanish- and English-language Landslide Guide for Residents of Puerto Rico. Collaborative risk communication is defined here as an iterative process guided by a set of principles for the interdisciplinary coproduction of hazards information and communication products by local and external stakeholders. The process that supports this form of risk communication involves mapping out the risk communication stakeholders in the at-risk or disaster-affected location—in this case Puerto Rico—and collaborating over time to address a shared challenge, such as landslide hazards. The approach described in this article involved the formation of a core team of government and university partners that expanded in membership to conduct collaborative work with an informal network of hazards professionals from diverse sectors in Puerto Rico. The following principles guided this process: cultural competence, ethical engagement, listening, inclusive decision making, empathy, convergence research, nested mentoring, adaptability, and reciprocity. This article contributes to the field of risk communication and emergency management by detailing these principles and the associated process in order to motivate collaborative risk communication efforts in different geographic and cultural contexts. While the work described here focuses on addressing landslides, the principles and process are transferable to other natural, technological, and willful human-caused hazards. They may also serve as a roadmap for future partnerships among government agencies and university researchers to inform the cocreation of science education and outreach tools.

Puerto Rico↗